Big changes

If you want to see just how quick things can change on the Bassmaster Elite Series, look no further than Kevin VanDam after Day One on Kentucky Lake.

If you want to see just how quick things can change on the Bassmaster Elite Series, look no further than Kevin VanDam after Day One on Kentucky Lake.

Sure, he started this season off in sort of a slump, allowing Skeet Reese to put together a massive, seemingly insurmountable lead in the Toyota Tundra Bassmaster Angler of the Year standings.

Now Reese (48th place, 14-3) appears to be in his slump, on the edge of not making the cut for the second tournament in a row. He's still in the lead in the point standings, but Edwin Evers (13th place, 19-14) has shaved off more than 60 points in his once huge lead.

What's worse, at least for Reese, is VanDam, who entered this event in 26th place in the TTBAOY standings, and is now in ninth place in those standings and making noise like he will be in the post-season after all.

Those standings are based on points after the Day One of the Tennessee Triumph and remain unofficial until the conclusion of the event. They bear watching, however, as this tournament progresses. VanDam can't move any higher, Reese can. But he can also fall a big distance as well.

VanDam's unforeseen move (as if anyone would have believed he would have made that big of a jump in one day) was helped by the performances of several anglers who were sitting way ahead of him in the AOY standings, but collectively stunk it up on Day One.

Notably Mark Davis, who was eighth in the standings going into the event. He finished Day One in 75th place, dropping him, for the moment, in the AOY standings to 26th place, still in the Classic but needing a strong Day Two to get back into the post-season.

Jeff Kriet was another. He's been having a strong season. Sitting in ninth place in the AOY standings coming into Kentucky Lake and after a Day One that left him in 66th place, he's now sitting in 18th in the AOY.

Add an 84th-place standing on Day One by Dean Rojas, and he dropped from 10th place in the AOY down to 24th.

With those kinds of moves, it left a lot of room for KVD to make a jump. As most pundits know after more than a decade of watching VanDam, the last thing you want to do is leave the door open for him to make a move, even just a little bit.

A lot of things can change on Day Two. But come July, when the post-season gets rolling, those who are there and those who aren't, might want to take a look back to Day One of the Tennessee Triumph to see why. Unless, of course, Day Two brings even more surprises.